Mohammad Javad Vafa’i Thani, a political prisoner and supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), has been sentenced to death for the third time. The Revolutionary Court of Mashhad once again upheld the death sentence against him, marking another chapter in his harrowing ordeal.
Vafa’i Thani, a 29-year-old boxing champion and coach from Mashhad, was arrested in March 2020. Since his arrest, he has endured severe physical and psychological torture. In January 2022, Branch 4 of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad sentenced him to death on charges of “corruption on earth, arson, and destruction of special places, including the building of the Government Punishment Organization.”
1. Renewed Death Sentences: Iran’s Escalating Repression Against Political Prisoners #Iran #HumanRightsViolations #StopExecutionsInIran pic.twitter.com/qBN0r2jCWE
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) September 20, 2024
His case was referred to Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad by the Supreme Court in December 2022. On July 19, 2023, this branch reaffirmed his death sentence. Then, in May 2024, the Supreme Court sent the case to another branch for further review.
Finally, on September 18, 2024, for the third time, two criminal judges, Saadi Makan and Yazdan Khah, issued a death sentence and officially communicated it to Vafa’i Thani in writing. This judicial process has violated even the Iranian regime’s own legal norms.
In January 2023, 96 international NGOs, along with current and former UN officials, human rights and legal experts, and Nobel laureates, urgently appealed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, for immediate intervention to halt Vafa’i Thani’s execution.
Earlier in the same week, the Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced two other political prisoners and PMOI supporters, Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, to death. They were charged with “baghi (rebellion), moharebeh (waging war against God), corruption on Earth, membership in the PMOI, collecting classified information, and conspiracy against national security.”
In a letter from prison, 69-year-old Ehsani decried the unjust death sentence issued against him and Hassani, citing the complete lack of evidence. “After 22 months of uncertainty, a death sentence has been issued against me without any evidence… Our sentence was announced to us on the second anniversary of the 2022 uprising… Ordinary prisoners are also routinely tortured and falsely accused.
7. Earlier in the same week, the Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced two other political prisoners and PMOI supporters, Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, to death. They were charged with “baghi (rebellion), moharebeh (waging war against God), corruption on Earth,… pic.twitter.com/Zi82BrkuOY
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) September 20, 2024
They are the defenseless victims of this regime… I call on my compatriots, international communities, and human rights organizations to act now, for tomorrow will be too late,” he wrote.
The International Committee In Search of Justice (ISJ) also issued a statement condemning the death sentences against PMOI supporters. The ISJ warned that these executions are part of the Iranian regime’s ongoing campaign to suppress dissent and intimidate those advocating for change, particularly following significant events like the 2022 uprising.
The ISJ emphasized that the international community’s weak responses to such abuses are viewed by the regime as tacit approval to continue its repressive practices.
The ISJ further called for the Independent Impartial Fact-Finding Mission (FMII) to visit Iranian prisons, interact with prisoners, and report on the human rights abuses occurring within these facilities.
In a statement on September 19, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, the International Fact-Finding Committee, the European Union, and its member states to take immediate action.
They called for the release of political prisoners and the urgent intervention to save the lives of Mohammad Javad Vafa’i Thani, Behrouz Ehsani, Mehdi Hassani, and other prisoners facing imminent execution.
The regime’s reliance on torture and execution highlights its fear of the growing support among Iran’s youth for the PMOI and the Iranian Resistance. In an effort to suppress the rising public dissent, the regime views brutality as its only path to survival.
